Someone posted a very good article here recently that underscored the importance of increasing your caloric intake once or twice a week due to a production in Leptin (not sure about the name). According to this article, it was noted that this increase in (healthy) calories is scientifically proven to promote weight loss and to prevent pleateaus.

Personally, I have a problem with binge eating, so this ends up happening anyway about 2 or 3 times a month (a major improvement since the time I started when it was happening every day!).

My question is (and sorry this got so long): How many of you do increase your calories this way once or twice a week? Have you found that it works? How many of you don't believe this works because you've tried it? How many of you don't want to try it because it makes you feel out of control, or for whatever reason?

Please share your methods and beliefs if you don't mind, as I'm very curious about my fellow calorie counting chicks!

It works for me. I tried recently to skip it and I not only plateaued, but after 3 days, actually gained on very few calories plus exercise. The off day helps my wl and my emotions so that I stay on plan.

I do it, but the "healthy calories" part is debatable!

I give myself one day a week to eat whatever I want. So, frappaccino's, donuts, and burgers all make regular appearances on my food diary on those days.

It hasn't had a negative effect on my weight loss yet, though. If and when it does, then I will cut back the indulgences.

I was curious about this myself so I decided to try it. We must be on the same vibe or reading the same articles lol!

I haven't lost in a while due to will power issues I just couldn't seem to stick it out with calorie counting for more than 3 or 4 days because I hated eating so low (1600-1700 cry baby, I am) and I tried just eating healthy foods for a while.(suggested to me by my martial arts trainer who said with good exercise I should be able to lose, but he is a man so he probably does that way) Anyway that hasn't worked either!

So I decided to do low days (1000-1200) calories followed by high (1600-1800) or moderate (1300-1500) days. I am gonna try this for 10 days to see what happens, so far I am on day 2.

My plan is L, H, L, M, H, L, L, H, M, L I hope this will work, my husband thinks its a great idea for me because on low days I always have tomorrow to look forward too so my lousy will power has to only last one day .

I did put 2 low days together to see how that feels and its after a big birthday party, kids sleepover, celebratory bbq (for a nephew in the army) day. Um hello can we say CALORIES!

Let me know if you want me to keep this updated as I go or start a new thread to track my 10days.

Day 1 1000 calories

I do it - I have one day on the weekend where I eat pretty much whatever I want.
For the first 10 weeks or so I was doing 1700-2000ish calories on the off day, what I thought was 1150-1250 the other days, thought this gaev me an average of around 1300/day for the week. I realized my plan days weren't as low as I thought, so my average turned out to be closer to 1450-1550 once you put in the high day. Even with that, I still lost weight - slowly, and with some ups if my high days had too much sodium, but lost nonetheless. Once I got the plan days to where I thought they should be I lost weight faster, even with a higher day in there every week. The last two weekends I didn't have as haigh a day, but it wasn't by plan, more the way things worked out... I did up the calories for a couple of other days by a lower amount to try to bring the average up a little.
I'm going to a Falcons game this weekend, so likely to be a high day there!

DH does the same thing - he just broke through his plateau and has lost 21 pounds with a high day on the weekend, in a previous weight loss effort he lost 45 pounds with a high weekend day and staying on a reasonable plan during the week.

I've seen pros and cons on both sides - I'm not prone to binging, so it has worked for me. Some of my friends can't do it - it would make them too out of control. I have had to struggle with the obsessive calorie counting on those days and realize I'm not eating more than what I think is my calorie level to maintain weight at my current fitness level...

I do have a day a week where I don't count. I don't binge and I don't eat anything and everything and I don't intentionally set out to be over the top or unhealthy, but I don't log, don't track and don't worry if I eat something that I know has lots of calories (like a 5 Guys burger! ).

I will be honest - I believe this has slowed my weight loss.

Don't get me wrong, I'm still losing. I'm certainly not losing as fast as I was earlier when I was much stricter. And it takes me a lot longer now to lost 5# or 10# and get down to that next mini-goal.

I'm not going to stop my "unplanned" day ... because quite frankly this is my life and I have to learn to eat in moderation and to be able to eat within a range of choices. I also have to know that I can have a hamburger if I want or a piece of cheesecake if I want or a frozen strawberry shake if I want. If I were to deprive myself, then I wouldn't be losing *any* weight becuase I'd have given up.

So for me the value to my mental health and my ability to stick with it far outweighs the downside of slower weight loss.

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I have a day a week where I eat more, I still count the calories of course. Usually it is on a day where I go out with friends, I eat a dish I really like at a restaurant and have a glass of wine. I do still have portion control, but I go for a pasta dish or something elseI wouldn't eat on a normal day.

I have lost weight after this the first weeks, last time I gained a quarter lbs, but it was gone( with a bit extra) the next day.

You should google 'the wendie plan' if this interests you.

I have a "free" day based on the nutritional plan from my trainer. Like Photochick, I think the may have slowed my loss or started my maintenance a bit sooner than I had anticipated, but the benefits outweigh those issues for me. I stick very closely to my plan 6 days a week---with about a 10% variance. The seventh day I am very liberal. This helps me postpone certain food cravings (ie, I really want a biscotti, it is not on my plan today, I can have one on Saturday---when Saturday rolls around I might still want it or I might not, but I stayed on plan). It also helps for "those days" that we all have---family dinners, holidays, birthdays, special occasions--I eat what I want and do not kick myself with guilt cause that can be my "free day" and as long as I get right back on plan, I am fine. I add that caveat cause last week I had 2 really awful binge days, but I am interestingly now at my lowest weight ever since I have been tracking....I dunno!

So knowing that I have a "free day" helps me stay on plan the rest of the week. It helps me forgive myself for indiscretions and get right back on plan. My trainer believes it helps our bodies not get used to too tight of calories---I have to say I am inclined to agree with this. My body is very efficient and if I fed it 1400 calories every single day, I think it would learn to not only survive on that, but sock away a few for a rainy day. My weight loss has not been speedy by any sense of the word, but this plan is livable for me for a long long long time. And that is what I really needed more than over-restrictive eating that would never let me eat a breakfast burrito or coffee-flavored ice cream ever again. But I also don't need those things every day either. Once a week works for me!

At the moment I don't bother with a free day. I know my food issues would have me eating a ton of food on those days, which would derail any progress I'd made the rest of the week. However, since March I have eaten different calories based on activity levels. Since I'm down more than 50 pounds since that point, I guess it works. I'm a calorie counter so I pretty much allow myself what I want provided it can be worked into my daily calorie levels (even today my 'low' days are 2000 cals).

I did take a rest/maintenance week in July, where I ate maintenance levels (3000 cals for me) which I still tracked. I stuck to the same basic food plan I'm eating now, just a little more. I went up a pound, then down 5 the week after, so it hasn't slowed my loss at all. I plan to repeat that process every 12 weeks until I'm finished with my weight loss.

This is kind of what I do. It's called "calorie cycling." I just call it balancing things out.

On my treat day I have gone as high as 5k calories. BUT, the rest of the week I will have one or two days under 1,200 to balance that out. Most of the time I bounce up and down the calorie range between 1,200 - 1,600 calories.

There have been weeks where I'm just so ravenous that I stay up around 1,600 all week. Some weeks, there are many days where I hover at the low end near 1,200 or under.

I just go based on what my body is telling me: when I'm hungry, I eat more. If I'm not, I don't eat just because I "should."

So far it's working out nicely for me. As I said, I am losing 2 lbs a week and it hasn't slowed down in over 2 months of me doing that.

I know not everyone can do this and have the same results though.

That makes so much sense to me! I give myself Saturdays to eat a little something something. I also bike to town and back so I get a 2 hour, 20 mile work-out which helps me feel okay about it. But I know me, if I didn't give myself a break once in awhile, I wouldn't be able to stick it out. And I can't tell you how many times I skipped the candy bar or the treat during the week because I knew I could have something on Saturday. I probably manage to eat less as a result. (Someone else mentioned that too)

I did try a total free for all day a couple of Saturdays ago when I had a 'girls day' with my friend. It was horrible. Not only did I gain several pounds, I felt physically icky afterwards and to make things worse, it kicked off some wicked cravings that lasted 3 or 4 days. I won't binge like that again anytime soon, but it was a great learning experience.

It's awesome to know so many of you feel the same way and for the same reasons. Woo hoo to us!

Oh thank, you thank, you thank you!! This is exactly the site I was trying to find. I did this plan a few years back and lost 60lbs in 7 or 8 months. I was working out a lot too but the eating plan was key. I was trying to follow the same thing this time but couldn't remember how I did it or the name of the site the info was on. So again

I think the theory behind it is to basically keep your metabolism guessing. If you always eat the same amount of calories, you body will adjust to that. So in turn, if you fluctuate your calories it will keep your metabolism on its toes. If you read Wendie's site she makes more sense out of the why's. I just know that it worked very well for me.

I would usually take Saturday as my really high day and enjoy a nice steak grilled(fat and all) with a BP and Salad. I would probably be around 2200 cals max for that day. Still on these days I would keep track of what I was eating just from habit and need to know if I was doing too much, in case I gained. Advice is to not go near a scale on the day after your high day. Give your body a chance to regulate itself after a few lower days and the scale should make you smile. Then again, I don't really have the binge eating issue, but I would think that not being so strict all the time might allow you to relax more and not crave everything. Best of luck if you do try it. If you aren't happy with what you are doing now I say keep trying until you find something that works for you.

C